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THE KING’S BUSINESS
7:46). (d ) Our Lord’s humanity was uni versal. He became “flesh,” without Jew ish or Gentile peculiarity. He became not merely a Man, but _ became that which belongs to the essence o f all men “ without regard to sex, race or time,” He “became flesh” and not a man. (e) Our Lord’s humanity and Divine nature remained as they were without change. The Word did not cease to be the Word ; the flesh did not cease to be the flesh. Only by bearing this in mind can we explain the apparent contradictions in our Lord’s life here on earth, ( f ) Our Lord’s human and Divine natures were united in one person, “ The Word became flesh.” There were not two personalities, one a human personality and one a Divine personality, existing side by side, there was one Divine-human person, (g ) The Word did not acquire personality by the incarnation, the Word was a person before His incarnation, “ He was. with God, and was God-A He was as truly a person before His incarnation as after His incar nation, but before His incarnation He was purely and simply a Divine person, at His incarnation He became a Divine-human person. Monday, April 3 . John 1 : 15 - 18 . John the Apostle, here introduces the testimony o f the other John, that is John the Baptist, as corroborating his own testi mony-to Jesus, and more especially as rep resenting the final testimony o f prophecy. John the Baptist’s testimony to our Lord Jesus is full o f meaning. In point o f time the Lord Jesus in His earthly manifesta tion came after John the Baptist, because John the Baptist was a preparation for His manifestation o f H im self: but the moment He did manifest-Himself, though coming after John, He “became before him,” i. e., took the precedence o f him. John the Baptist at once began to decrease and sink into the background (cf. John 3 :30) ; the Lord Jesus advanced to the front. Very few realize how complete was the under standing o f John the Baptist at this time regarding the Lord Jesus, (His person,
could be seen, and the glory that the Lord Jesus, manifested in His person and in His earthly life was o f such a character that it became evident to those who looked upon Him. with open eyes that He was the Qnly Begotten from the Father, and He was full both o f grace and truth. The Holy Spirit in speaking here through the Apostle John leads us out into deep waters and one needs to proceed cautiously, and yet we should proceed boldly and believe all that is plainly said. In this fourteenth verse we find three things: (1) The fact of the incarnation; (2) the Apostle’s testi mony to the incarnation as a matter of personal, careful observation; (3) the character of the Incarnate Word. The Word did not merely assume flesh, He “became flesh.” He did not merely clothe Himself with a human body, but He became flesh, that is to sayr the eternal W ord arid very God became in every .respect a real man; He partook of the human nature that we might become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), He, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8 :9 ). There is no more marvellous statement in all literature than these words o f John, “ The W ord became flesh.” W e may meditate upon these words all our life but we can never fully fathom them. John nowhere records the fact of the miraculous concep tion o f our. Lord, as it was natural that he should not, as he does not speak defi nitely of His human birth, but the miracu lous conception is implied in the words used here. The contents o f what God has here revealed may be summed up in the following statements: (a) Our Lord’s humanity was real, not merely apparent, (b ) Our Lord’s humanity was complete, not merely partial, (c ) Our Lord’s human ity was permanent, not merely for a few years. In the theophanies o f Old Testa ment times He Clothed Himsdtf with a human appearance for a time, but here He becomes Man for all -time and for eternity. There is a Man now in the glory (Acts
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